On my knees here. Ds is 5 months old and has never been a great sleeper but I'm running out of ideas and patience now. He cannot/will not sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Before the 4 month sleep regression hit we could get a 4/5 hour stretch and then another 3 hours which I was more than happy with. We were at a christening yesterday with most of our nct group who were talking about the 8/9/12 (!) hour stretches they get at night which has convinced dh that there is something 'wrong' with our baby. I'm just tired, he's bf so the night wakings fall to me to deal with.
Bedtime is 7pm, room is dark, white noise is playing. Change into bed clothes then big breastfeed. Sometimes he will fall asleep when feeding and I can put him down, sometimes it's a couple of rounds of twinkle twinkle with rocking. Where I can I try to put him down slightly awake.
He has a dummy and sometimes also holds a comforter as his hands can be busy if he isn't properly asleep. He never gets into a deep enough sleep where the dummy falls out. We usually end up cosleeping from 4/5 onwards as he won't settle.
If he's been asleep less than 3 hours he usually gets rocked to sleep if he wakes, otherwise it's a feed. He's a great napper and goes down about every 90 mins in the day.
Any suggestions/advice would be very welcome. I do get annoyed and frustrated at still being up 4+ times a night and I know that dh wants to try leaving him to cry which I'm not sure about. I think we'd be handling this better if every other baby at any groups I go to wasn't some kind of magic sleeping machine! Sorry for the rant.
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I thought we were done with the sleep regression...
Nousername2015 · 13/06/2016 05:34
Hi OP,
My DDs sleep went to pot too at the 4month sleep regression, now at 8mo she tends to have 1/2 night feeds with a solid block of around 5/6 hours sleep from about 10.00ish. This probably sounds terrible to those people who's miricle babies have slept through from the day they were born, but like you I was someone who counted myself lucky to get a three hour stretch, so 5/6 hours feels like heaven!
Like a PP said, some babies are just better sleepers than others, but I do remember my DDs sleep was at its worst from 3.5-5.5months, things have got much better since she dropped to 2 naps and fell into a more predictable routine (234 routine), and learning to crawl as helped things too. I think your LO is too young to drop to 2 naps yet, but just wanted to give a bit of hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that it will get better 
Can't offer any fixes but we're going through the exact same thing plus throw in our girl is refusing to take a bottle during the day. She's 22 weeks on Friday takes 2 meals a day and roughly 10oz of milk in the 11/12 hours during the day she's awake.
Last night was pretty bad I remember looking at the clock 1.16, 1.27 then she dozed back off again until 2.28 fed her. Then gave in at 3.17 and took her in beside us. Sleep deprivation is the worst so all my sympathy is with you! Just keep powering on its what us mummies do best 
.
Currently working on the day time naps of being awake for 90 mins then a nap and attempting to follow the EASY way not as straight on when you have a baby who is very determined
I hate be the bearer of bad news but my DDs' sleep sorted itself around the 2yr mark I think - basically when she was old enough to be reasoned with and have things explained to her... DS (18m) is still going through his "regression" but we've coped way better with him by just co sleeping pretty much from the start; he is bf still and it's waaay easier to just pop a boob in for a couple minutes then roll over, all still half asleep!
I actually am very sceptical about people who say their babies slept through from early on with no 'encouragement' (ie sleep training).... not saying they don't exist, but I don't know Anyone who breastfed well into and beyond baby's first year who's child didn't wake loads and in many cases still do and we all just accepted it was part and parcel of having kids - you sleep Shit till they get the hang of it then catch up later.
There's a lot of research into sleep patterns and styles that indicates waking up frequently is actually in our genetic make up and is how we would've survived in the past - ie, constantly rousing ourselves to check we were still 'safe' and not about to be gnawed on by a sabre tooth tiger or similar 
so it may help you to understand that teaching your child Not to do that is actually fighting against aeons.... it can be done but takes patience! 
And btw, co sleeping Is Natural and you don't have to feel guilty or like a failure for doing what people all over the world have done forever (and in many cases still do)! There's this weird, actually fairly recent mindset that your nearest and dearest most precious and vulnerable family member Must be in its own bed - preferable even in its own room - asap or is going to all go horribly wrong for all concerned... I don't get it, tbh! Get a huge comfy bed and a bed rail and stick OH in the spare room a couple nights a week so everyone gets a bit More sleep breathe a sigh of guilt free relief and chill!
zaurak What. The. Fuck? What an arsehole 
We've just come out of the four month regression but DS is still a crap sleeper. A four hour stretch at night is a massive achievement. He's six months and has 'slept through' (10pm - 5am) one night. Every other night we're up three hourly.
For a good few weeks it was hourly which was just killing me. I think it made me depressed, actually. It's torture.
I've tried everything to get him to go that little bit longer. He naps and feeds well during the day. He's weaning onto solids. We have a good bedtime routine. We have white noise. NOTHING WORKS.
So, for the time being I'm just going to suck it up as normal and fantasise about the day he sleeps from 6pm - 7am (like my older DS).
for everyone.
Oh and cosleeping does not work for us. He hates it and I hate it. 
stellars I'm with you on the fantasy. It's my birthday soon and I've asked dh for a pack of sleeping pills and 12 hours undisturbed in my own bed
Davidpuddy I really don't think he is. He isn't showing any signs at all. He's been like it for 2 months now I can't bear it.
I have asked my hv for help but she just diagnosed me with pnd instead as I am always so tearful, which is purely down to sleep deprivation.
The problem is that during the day he is the happiest little boy you could ever meet so people don't understand how different he is at night 
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MYA that is shit. How old is your DS? Sorry you didn't get the support from your HV
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